Having successfully renegotiated the amount they’ll pay The City for the land upon which to build San Francisco’s Transbay Transit Tower and Terminal from $350 million to $185 million due to declining market conditions and a shorter tower, Hines might now start construction as early as next summer based on the strength of the market.

According to the Business Times, “[u]nder the best-case schedule, which is six months more aggressive than projections Hines made in March, Transbay Tower and the adjacent 5.4-acre City Park would be completed in late 2015.”

The economy is doing much better now, projections for office demand in the area show an ongoing squeeze, and rates are still just above nothing, so this is an excellent opportunity to negotiate financing arrangements. This will probably be best for everyone.

Yeah, right, a big sophisticated player runs for the exits in spite of rosy real estate industry generated “projections” and it’s better for everyone. LOL.
C’mon, this is exactly the situation we found ourselves in in 2007. Condo buildings offering higher commissions, check. Financing for buildings falling apart, check. Signs of a market top all around.

I agree the SOM version was a far superior design than the current fairly bland one. I think they picked the current design because of the rooftop park, and didn’t pay any attention the building’s design at all.

No preleasing out there. Tenant demand is still not strong enough to fill even 50% of it. Will be interesting to see which transbay building goes up first…..(First & Mission, 350 Mission, 535 Mission…)

@CH
It was pre-coffee, so maybe not too funny, but it
was intended as a joke… I guess it’s good I didn’t go into comedy!
@anon
I agree, and even with the bland design (I don’t hate it, just not too impressed) I’m still hoping it gets built. I just wish it had been a more iconic. I’m not a person who thinks every building needs to have a great design, but if any needs it, it’s the new tallest building.

@ lyqwyd: I was at the architectural presentation and, of the approx. 60 minutes allowed, 50 minutes was spent on the park and 10 minutes on the tower. Ideally, the tallest building should be iconic; this isn’t.

Yeah but…will this still be the tallest bldg. on the west coast? And are there any other WC city with plans to top that? (SF must maintain the biggest dick on the WC, and the dildo bldg. is the perfect instrument for that.)

Looks like it, if it indeed does get built.
The currentU.S. Bank Tower in L.A., currently the tallest on the west coast, is 1,018 ft., compared to the recently-reduced height of this proposal (for the Transbay Tower) at 1,070 feet.
The Wilshire Grand Tower I is entitled to reach 1,250 feet and therefore would be tallest, but developer Korean Air and Los Angeles architect A.C. Martin Partners Inc. earlier this year scaled it back and from the looks of things that would make the completed building shorter than the existing U.S. Bank Tower. The new building is planned to open in January 2017.
Of course someone with money in hand and tenant agreements in place could probably propose, get approvals and build a new, taller building than either this or the existing U.S. Bank Tower before the Transbay Transit Tower is built if it keeps getting delayed. Maybe Seattle will come out of nowhere to take the prize.

The Wilshire Grand Tower I is entitled to reach 1,250 feet and therefore would be tallest, but developer Korean Air and Los Angeles architect A.C. Martin Partners Inc. earlier this year scaled it back and from the looks of things that would make the completed building shorter than the existing U.S. Bank Tower. The new building is planned to open in January 2017.

They are still planning for a completion year of 2017, but from the story I read today, they are back up to a building taller than the existing 72-story U.S. Bank Tower that has held the title of tallest west of Chicago since 1989.
From the Los Angeles Times earlier today, Tallest building in the West to be built in downtown L.A.:

The long-awaited design of a $1-billion hotel and office skyscraper to be built in downtown Los Angeles — soon to be tallest building in the West — was unveiled Thursday by developer Korean Airlines.

At 73 stories, the tower at Wilshire Boulevard and Figueroa Street will be a dramatic addition to the city skyline and a symbol of South Korea’s growing status as a global economic powerhouse.

…As designed by Los Angeles architecture firm AC Martin Partners, arriving hotel guests will be whisked by high-speed elevators to the “sky lobby” on the 70th floor for check-in to one of 900 rooms…the 71st floor will be a restaurant. The floor above that will house window-washing gear and engineering equipment, clearing the top floor for an “infinity” swimming pool and recreation area.

Emphasis mine; the reason we were discussing this at all in this thread was because the Transbay Tower was planned to be the tallest building in the West.
Hopefully, even at the new, reduced height, we’ll have a building that serves as a symbol of San Francisco’s growing status as an economic powerhouse.

Brahma- what I like about the tower you wrote about in Los Angeles is that it is a mixed use building with hotel, residential and offices all occupying different zones. Why couldn’t the Transbay be more than offices and have housing, hotel, etc.?
I appreciate that the Los Angeles tower has the roof devoted to public space with infinity pool, gardens, bar and cafe. We may not have the Los Angeles climate, but I wish more tower roofs were open to the public in San Francisco.